I'll Make You
by Ahrrogance
Summary: Handsome Jack gets easily bored, and is used to getting his way. You can imagine how being restricted to Rhys' head could cause all sorts of problems for the both of them, when Jack's personality collides with Rhys'. What Jack wants Jack gets. And he's set on making that abundantly clear to Rhys. This is story is HandsomeJack/Rhys
1. Chapter 1

They had been walking for so long since they were basically jettisoned from the back of their get-away vehicle. Rhys was walking with one socked foot-his shoe having come loose when Fiona tried her best to keep him onboard. If it weren't for how blazingly hot the ground was it would almost be for the best. The shoes were far from comfort shoes. They were meant to display sophistication and class among the other corporate employees, made from exotic skag leather and snakeskin. Set himself a peg above those other chumps dressed with imitation leather or just cheaper hides. He liked to think he could pick out all the faux-phonies from a crowd.

As it was, one foot sweated and cramped in its tight unforgiving confines while the other felt ready to blister from the sharp rocks and near molten ground. At least his sock was spiffy.

Vaughn wore his shirt around his head as a turban, and maybe it was the better idea. He'd at least get a tan and maybe keep cooler. But honestly Rhys wasn't as buff as the formerly stereotypical IT nerd. It didn't bother him, really. He just though it would be too much hassle, plus he had more layers. Honest.

"What, too emasculated next to Rambo over here?" said the startlingly familiar voice of Handsome Jack from beside him. Rhys couldn't help but jump and shout in surprise. Jack had seemed to disappear for a while, and Rhys was just starting to feel comfortable that maybe he'd have a break from the hologram.

But that dialogue was very close along the lines of what he had been thinking. Surely, though Jack was somewhere inside his head or tech augmentations, he couldn't read his thoughts...right?

Jack was grinning at Rhys' expense, clearly having enjoyed startling him so thoroughly. Vaughn was looking at Rhys with confusion and a little concern.

"You okay buddy? Step on something sharp?" Vaughn's concern for Rhys was evident despite his confusion. Rhys hadn't yet told him about Jack yet. Surely his friend would think he's absolutely insane. The one thing that kept him from mentioning anything was... what if he was insane? He expected Vaughn wouldn't initially believe him, and Rhys wouldn't fault him that. But what if when they try to put it to the test... he failed? Jack might not be able to prove he's anything more than a hallucination.

"I-I'm okay. Thought I stubbed my toe." Rhys stumbled and fell over his thoughts trying to explain his outburst. He tried to hide the grimace at his own poorly falsified explanation.

"Phhah! You _thought_ you stubbed your toe? You're a grade A genius if I've ever seen one. And I know geniuses. I _am_ one," Jack called out after Rhys as they continued to walk. Vaughn said no more, turning awkwardly back to their nearly aimless path. "And just so you don't get any ideas... you know because you're SO bright and all I was absolutely joking about you being a genius. It's sarcasm. You dumb sack of bricks."

He would tell Vaughn. He'd tell him soon. It didn't matter if it turned out Jack was just a hallucination. At least he'd have entrusted it to his best friend. Besides, if he didn't tell him soon Vaughn would think he's going crazy anyways with the way things are going. He wasn't getting better at predicting Jack at any decent pace.

As the sky darkened they fled to a ruined shack put together of scrap trash and metal sheets just below a large cliffside. Not far from the shack skag caves could be seen, littered with bones collected junk, a few pups milling about before the sun fully retreated. The shack was otherwise in a great location. Running along the wall of the cliff was a small creek that actually had some vegetation and rich brown mud around the water's edge. With the retreating sun and darkness setting in, the water wasn't glowing either! So it had to be marginally safe. Unfortunately the close proximity to the skags was probably the reason the building was no longer occupied. Rhys hoped they wouldn't be be welcomed by the recent remains of the previous occupant.

Stepping foot inside, the place was a disaster. It had clearly had been invaded by skags, set ravenous at the site of a delicious meal not 500 yards from their territory. Claw marks marred many surfaces and gouged large streaks out of the wooden floorboards. Personal items of the occupant lay strewn all around in complete disarray.

There was once a fridge, now a shredded metal box that only vaguely resembled a fridge. Its innards torn out and any scraps of edible food devoured. Rhys' stomach growled, remembering how hungry he was.

"I guess let's scout the place out for anything useful. Maybe we'll find some food the skags didn't find," Rhys said, beginning to sift through the junk. It was mostly useless, and mostly consisted of the old food containers now devoid of contents. He suspected the owner hadn't lived here for long before his... untimely death. Vaughn followed Rhys' suggestion and began sifted through the other side of the building.

"God could you guys get any more pathetic?" Jack asked casually, laying across a countertop watching Rhys and Vaughn work their way through the trash. "I mean really, I mostly mean you. At least that guy's ripped."

Rhys refused to acknowledge the hologram. It wasn't the real Jack. There was no need to even act like he was there, because ultimately he wasn't.

"Come on, put more back into it! You're going to starve before you find anything with a work ethic like that. Do you always work like a well-fucked whore? Bowlegged and lagging around like you've still get semen coming out from your cooch? Hope you don't work like that for Hyperion. I'd have fired you instantly. Maybe I'd have shot you. Guess it really depends on the type of day I'm having. Today seems like a shot-in-the-head day."

Despite constantly renewing his efforts to ignore the nearly perfect imitation of the real Jack's voice, Rhys was finding it very difficult to continue phasing out the man's near external-monologue.

"Oh my god why are you are so sl-"

"_Why don't you actually shut up or do something useful for once!_"

He couldn't help it. He'd snapped. Whether Jack was a hologram or a hallucination he couldn't handle his constant barrage of insults while he was trying to find something worth salvaging. He was tired, hungry, sore, hot, sweaty, and really not in the mood to entertain Handsome Fucking Jack from within his own head.

"_What did you say?_" The snarl that crept onto Jack's masked face carved into the handsome face with such venom that suddenly Rhys struggled with his decision to spout that out. He had forgotten how intimidating Jack could be. Hologram or not.

At the same time Vaughn looked up with shock and hurt on his face. Of course he'd though Rhys was talking to him. Who else would be talking to? Certainly not a figment, real or imaginary, of Handsome Jack.

Ignoring the curdling anger festering in holo-Jack, Rhys stood up from his kneeling position and faced Vaughn. "N-Not you! I... I mean. I... Phew. Okay we need to talk buddy. I wasn't talking to you when I said tha-"

"_But I'm talking to you._" The seething anger that radiated from Jack caused his own holographic image to flicker. Strangely, Rhys could vaguely *feel* Jack's anger like a hot spray of water down his spine. Without warning an electric pain pinched at the base of his skull and shot with lightening speed down his spinal cord, following the same path of the heated sensation of Jack's anger.

Rhys cried out, falling down to his knees. The white hot pain eased for a moment, and Rhys tried to mumble out a "stop" but it sounded gurgled.

"What was that? What do you want?" Jack taunted, his anger still mounted ominously. How was a hologram able to do this to him? This shouldn't be possible. Another intense flash wrecked its way viscously through his body, filling it with intense agony until he screamed out in pain again.

"Ssh-p"

"What pumpkin? I didn't hear you?" Jack no longer looked angry, smiling a sickeningly sweet smile, betrayed by the wolve's teeth behind them. He could still feel his anger, muddled with satisfaction.

"P-Plea...sh... _Sht..oooop._"

The pain ended abruptly. So suddenly it ripped the air from Rhys' lungs completely. He gasped for breath, the memory of the pain still haunting, ghosting at the ends of his nerves. But it was gone so suddenly and so completely it was as if it never happened.

"Rhys! Are you fucking okay?" Vaughn was pushing Rhys onto his back and holding his head up with one hand. "What the fuck just happened!"

His friend was freaking out but trying to keep it together, after just watching his friend writhe on the ground screaming, asking for the pain to stop, he was doing a pretty good job.

"I have to tell you something. I have to tell you now before you think I'm any more nuts. But you might just think I'm completely nuts after this." For a moment panic caught Rhys as he glanced around for Jack, fearful that he'd strike out again... or whatever he just did. He didn't want to anger Jack any more, but he needed to explain to his friend what was going on. Clearly he couldn't keep it hidden anymore or it would just get him into serious trouble. Jack would make sure of that, intentionally or not. But probably intentionally.

Jack was standing off to the side, leaning against the counter he was laying across previously.

"Look, okay, so I think I have a hologram of Jack stuck in my head. Like Handsome Jack, Jack. I don't know how he got there or why he's there, but I can see and talk to him, and he can apparently manipulate my brain to make me feel agonizing pain. I know it sounds crazy and I know it is a little bit, but it's true and I don't think I'm really crazy. I'm going to shut up now and give you a moment to think about all that."

There was a prolonged moment of silence in which not even Handsome Jack spoke. Rhys couldn't be sure that he was finished incurring Holo-Jack's wrath.

"So, yes, I do think you're a little crazy," Vaughn said gently, like trying to calm down an animal that may just attack you from having gone mad. "But I'm reserving a little bit of mindset that you might not be crazy. Surely if you're not crazy you can prove it. And please don't feel bad that I don't entirely believe you. You know I'd believe anything you say-you're my best friend. But... you've been acting-well-insane these past several hours."

Relief flooded Rhys, enough so to completely forget the torment just moments ago. "Right! No problem! Of course, I'll just have Jack prove that he's a hologram somehow in my head."

The words came out before he remembered that presently Jack was...probably still pissed off at him. Still hopeful, Rhys glanced up at Jack fully, no longer feeling as though he had to hide glances at something only he could see. It might have appeared strange, for Rhys to constantly be looking at something that wasn't there. Vaughn's head turned uncertainly, following Rhys' gaze, landing on empty space.

Handsome Jack scoffed and crossed his arms, an eyebrow cocked above the other.

"Really? Well what do you want, a fucking blowjob?" The exasperated comment was out before his brain filtered it as "easy target".

"You'd like that, wouldn't you," Jack intoned with a vicious sneer. "Bet you'd love cock-worshipping Handsome Jack, huh kiddo?"

"Look, I'm sorry! I'm stressed out, can't we just do this and deal with what I said/did/didn't really do later?" he knew he was choosing his words poorly for the Ex Leader of Hyperion, but his entire brain was completely fatigued. He hoped that Jack's capabilities deteriorated in tandem with his own. He was trying to seek any easy way out, but realizing too late that it might have compounded negative impact.

"Uh, no."

"Really?"

"Really."

Rhys could see from the corner of his mouth the very apparent uncertainty and unease from his friend Vaughn. He didn't want to see that mixture of doubting expression fully, and refused to look at his friend but from his peripheral vision. He felt defeated. He had to prove himself to Vaughn. But it was suddenly feeling like a losing battle. He'd fucked up. He should have been treating this whole situation like he was treading on glass, not gallivanting through a field of harmless fucking flowers. Because Handsome Jack had proven that even as a hologram, he was not a force to be taken lightly.

"What do you want?"

Turning his attention back to Rhys, Jack stood firmly, now focused on the man sitting on the floor.

"Say you're sorry."

"Really? I'm sorry." It was halfassed and consisted of some backtone, but that didn't seem to bother Jack.

"Now tell your little friend that you're sorry that you're a pathetic Hyperion nobody whose got a hardon for Handsome Jack. And if you don't act like you mean it then I'm not helping you out kid."

The irritation was squashed for the greater good. It was necessary to just appease Jack and get past this. He turned to Vaughn, slouching slightly from his seated position across from his friend. "Look, Vaughn. I'm sorry that I'm a pathetic Hyperion nobody who has a hardon for Handsome Jack."

He was sure his friend would catch on to what was going on. There was no way he'd think that was legitimate. The statement was so absurd, and given the situation-

"I mean, okay. Pretty sure everyone knows about your thing for Jack."

"I-What?"

"Come on man, you've got your entire office filled with posters of Jack."

"They're motivational posters! They're company issued!"

Jack laughed uproariously from the sidelines. "Wow, okay, that's way more than I needed to know cupcake. I was just kidding about all that shit talk before, but turns out I really hid the nail on the head. Or maybe I shouldn't be making references to "heads" or anything that can be misconstrued as sexual around you. Don't want you getting the wrong idea and all that."

Rhys couldn't believe it. The whole world was against him. He was sure of it. He didn't even like men!


	2. Who is in Control?

Things were fine. Things were good. They weren't being chased, shot at with Moonshots, being hunted down by Rakks, or being eaten. Jack also wasn't inflicting mind-numbingly horrible pains on him. Vaughn was willing to give him a shot at proving he isn't insane, and Jack was now in an arguably decent enough mood to listen to Rhys.

But now was the moment of truth. Would Jack prove that Rhys was sane or insane?

"I guess just hold your hand behind your back and put any number of fingers up?" Rhys suggested.

Vaughn did as instructed, looking at Rhys with some mixture of doubt and intrigue. Jack left his post leaning against the counter across the room and strolled lazily behind Vaughn's backside.

"Three," Jack stated in a tone that mimicked his lazy movements.

"Three."

Vaughn looked quizzically at Rhys. "N-nooo?" The doubt on his features doubled, overshadowing the intrigue that was previously there too.

"What?" Rhys asked confused, and glanced to the man smirking behind his friend's back.

"Nah, I'm just kidding with you," Jack said with a guffaw of laughter. "Thought it'd be funny to make this guy think you're more insane for just a moment longer. Ah, I love tearing friends apart."

Rhys glared at Jack, not amused with the man's humor. This was pretty serious to him, and while he wasn't about to piss off Holo-Jack, he also wasn't going to quiver before him. "Okay okay you've had your laugh. Can you please tell me how many fingers he's actually holding up now?"

"Three."

"I'm asking you _nicely_."

"No, really, three. He changed it from the four he had up earlier when I lied to you." When Rhys didn't budge from the reassurance Jack rolled his eyes and held up a hand. "Scout's honor." Though his smile was coy, there was little other option than to trust Jack.

Letting out a ragged exasperated sigh he ran the palm of his un-augmented hand roughly down his face. "Three?" he asked with no small amount of trepidation. "You had four up before you changed."

Vaughn momentarily looked somewhat shocked. "Okay, sure you got that right. What about now?"

"Middle finger. Wait he's basically flipping me off, that son of a bastard!"

"Thanks for that," Rhys said with a warm smile, knowing his friend wasn't doing it to prove sanity or insanity. He already now firmly believed him.

Vaughn returned the smile. "No problem man, anytime." A moment of silence passed. "How mad is he?"

"He's... probably wanting to assume control over my body and punch you in your junk."

Jack stood up straight at that last comment, appearing greatly interested in a new thought. He paced up briskly to Rhys' side and knelt, eying him intently, and with no amount of shyness at the awkwardly close stare and proximity. He realized he was eyeing the metal augment protrusion on his left temple. He felt very uncomfortable with the scrutiny and unreadable expression on that shimmering blue face.

Rhys tried to turn towards Jack, and force him to break his stare but the hologram just shifted on his knees following the movement, continuing to inspect the side of Rhys' head with near palpable scrutiny. Jack extended a finger until it was hovering just a few centimeters from touching the silver augment. Closing the gap between finger and metal plating caused an electrical shock to radiate inside Rhys' head, emanating from his implant.

"Gah!" he exclaimed with a jerk of his body, distancing the proximity of the finger and his face.

Without warning a Cheshire grin spread maniacally across Jack's features. At the same moment Jack took his fist and punched the air to the side. But it wasn't just Jack's hologram image that punched out. Rhys' own mechanical arm followed of its own accord, flawlessly imitating Jack's movement.

Vaughn was still kneeling directly next to Rhys, and wound up in the path of the runaway fist. More specifically, Vaughn's crotch was in the path of the forceful blow. Vaughn fell backwards cradling himself with a garbled expletive.

"What the hell was that!" both Vaughn and Rhys cried out at the same time, though perhaps Vaughn's had risen an octave. But both of them felt violated though in much different ways.

Warring with two thought processes, one of concern for his friend and one of what the hell just happened, Rhys decided his friend was more important. "Oh shitsticks, Vaughn, that wasn't me. I don't know what just happened but Jack somehow just did that with my own arm. You know I have no reason to do that to you."

Vaughn merely continued to curl up on himself, and groaned out something that Rhys hoped was meant to be "It's okay, I know".

Meanwhile Jack was laughing uncontrollably, clutching at his stomach from the spiels of laughter. "Oh my shit, I couldn't have planned that better if I had tried. I'm absolutely dying over here. That was great. Made my day. Maybe being a hologram isn't so bad if you can still punch people in the junk.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Rhys shouted, turning to prop himself up to raise to his feet. He was still feeling violated and betrayed by a piece of technology that was designed to do his bidding. Not anyone else's. What would this mean if Jack could control his arm? It didn't seem that the tech could be trusted to always follow his will if Jack was able to override it.

He tried to calm himself down. It was just because Rhys wasn't controlling his arm at the time. He was certain that if it came to it, his arm would obey him over Jack. He was absolutely certain. That internal reassurance did wonders for calming Rhys down while Jack recovered from his laughter and Vaughn recovered from.. well yeah.

"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you! You just punch your dear best friend in his dick!" Jack tried holding a straight face and managed for a good five seconds before he burst into renewed laughter. "I mean, who does that?"

The anger fizzled out of Rhys in a moment of clarity. Jack was just keeping himself amused. He'd had his laugh at everyone else's expense and now things could progress at a normal pace now that it's out of his system.

"Okay, can we get serious here again for a moment?" Rhys said trying to get everyone back in order and on the same page. Vaughn was coming out from his fetal position though tears still glinted at the corners of his eyes.

"Yeah. Yeah that sounds like a good idea. I like serious. Serious doesn't involve me getting hurt," Vaughn said with no small amount of effort to steady his voice. "Well, unless we're talking about being shot at running for our lives serious. But seriously is he going to do that again?"

Rhys eyed Jack, who just shrugged his arms up and outward. "Nahhh," the hologram said nonchalantly.

"I don't know how to take that response," Rhys admitted dryly. "I'm assuming it's a no, though."

"Yeah, but it's also a no to the serious thing. I don't care what you two ladies do, but I'm busy trying to figure out how to continue physically and emotionally manipulating you while I'm stuck in your stupid head."

At least he was being honest, Rhys supposed.

"We never finished searching for food. I think that should be our top priority. We're still a two day's walk until we hit the nearest bit of civilization so... hope we find something."

They begin searching the ruins again, while Jack continued to remain unhelpful, spending most of the time being eerily close to Rhys, examining his implant and augmented arm. Occasionally he'd prod either with a shimmering finger, and cause electric sensations to bloom from either, causing smaller man to shout out or jump in surprise. Vaughn eventually learned to just ignore it, and no longer called out to see if he was alright unless it was a particularly lengthy shout.

It was a surprisingly large building. Two stories with multiple rooms. It had been double layered with sheet metal and scrap, though most of the inner walls had fallen into the pathways among other misc debris. Apparently for a short while the skags had made a temporary nest, bringing in their random finds from the wasteland and hiding them around and under other larger scraps. Rhys wandered into a room that looked like a bedroom. The walls had been lined with metal shelving, upon which once was stored canned goods. Since the skag attack the now empty cans littered the entire room, with other miscellaneous items. This guy had been serious about his food collection.

On the far wall was a spring mattress, dusty with disuse. Other than a few holes and clawmarks it was in otherwise decent condition. Approaching the side of the metal bedframe, suddenly his mechanical hand shot out to one of the frame's bars, clamping hard down on the metal.

"Jack, what are you doing?" Rhys said in an almost chiding voice. There was some semblance of fear in his tone though. Jack had caught him completely off-guard. If it had been so easy this time, would it always be that easy for Jack to assume control of his arm?

"I'm going to go out for some air!" Vaughn called to Rhys from across the shoddy building, just before a muffled sneeze could be heard.

"O-Okay!" Rhys called back. Why had he said that? What if he needed Vaughn? There was some panic triggered by Jack taking control and Vaughn leaving the immediate vicinity, but he wouldn't back down from Jack just because he'd made his arm grip some dumb bedpost. Jack was just fucking with him again, annoyed that he wasn't being paid attention like before.

He tried to pry his hand off of the metal with his human hand, but it wouldn't budge. Trying to pull the bed with him made him realize that fatefully the bed had been bolted to the floor. No wonder it wasn't upturned like most everything else in this shack. He focused his mind solely on the purpose of unclenching his metal fist, how he knew to make the appendage respond. It didn't move a millimeter. Jack had full control.

He turned his head to his right side, were Jack stood. His arm wasn't even in the same position as his metal arm. This wasn't good. Was he controlling it without even making the movement himself? How had he learned to do that in that limited timeframe?

"Ha ha, very funny. Come on let me have my arm back."

"See sugar, while I'm in your head you have to understand something. And now that I've got you staying put I'm going to make sure you understand it very clearly. I'm in control. Got that?"

Rhys laughed at that. What the heck was he talking about? Was this another little game of his? Sure, big bad mean hologram Jack is in control. Whatever.

"I don't think you're taking me very seriously right now, Ralf,"

"It's Rhys-"

"_I don't care what your fucking name is._ There's only one thing that needs to be known right now, and that's who is in charge. So tell me Rhys, who's in charge?"

"Uh, not you," Rhys said with a sarcastic tone and a smirk. He had his arm, sure. Big deal. And he could inflict pain on him. Another big deal. That didn't take Rhys' control away at all, just small setbacks that can be adjusted for. He was getting annoyed at Jack's constantly cocky ego anyways.

"Wrong answer."

He paced languidly around Rhys, going just out of view behind him. Rhys twisted his neck to catch site of the hologram but he was just out of view. "You see, I have control over you. But you don't believe me. You think I can just play with your arm and send pains through you. But I can do so much more. I can make you feel whatever I want you to feel. Anything."

Jack walked back into sight. "You see, I've been mapping your nervous system and how it correlates to your brain functions and how your body releases various chemicals and hormones into your body. Funny enough is that this implant here?" he said, soundlessly tapping the metal plating at Rhys' temple. Rhys recoiled, expecting the static shock from the finger's contact as had been expected previously, but there was no shock that time. "It has the capability of affecting just about every physical function of your body."

The hologram settled himself on the bed's surface, though his presence didn't impact the bed physically in any way. As much as Rhys wanted to step away from the invading presence, he was stuck to the bed.

"I can make you feel pain, as you know," Jack said, his tone now dark and ominous. Suddenly Rhys body contracted violently, overcome the achingly familiar sensation of electric hot pain radiating through his spinal cord, and wrapping like little electric wisps to other parts of his body. He cried out at the pain. Would Vaughn hear him? Did he want Vaughn to hear him? Vaughn wouldn't be able to do anything even if he were there at that very moment. Maybe it was best to deal with Jack alone.

"I can make you feel sadness."

The pain was gone in an instant, and completely forgotten when his chest clenched and his throat swelled. His heart ached with such intensity as his brain fumbled for mental footing, only able to focus on the pure emotional agony he was currently facing. Tears welled up at the corner of his eyes and spilled with abandon. A choked sob escaped his throat, unable to hold back his anguish.

Then, once again, the falsified feelings were gone. His body no longer clenched around itself in sorrow and his mind could focus once more on what was happening.

"I can even make you feel lust."

Rhys' eyes widened of their own accord, but in response to something so incredibly involuntary. He felt his cheeks flush hot, and the tips of his ears even hotter. His abdomen clenched with arousal as heat pooled even lower. A heavy pressure spread across his entire body, enveloping him in a deliciously teasing sensation that nipped at every inch of his flesh. He had to make Jack stop. He tried to make Jack stop by calling out his name sharply. What came out instead was the man's name ground out in the most unadulterated lustful moan that's ever crossed his lips.

"Really? I do the lust thing for three seconds and you're already moaning my name like a sex starved schoolgirl."

The overall body pressure and feelings dissipated instantly, but his heated skin and the swollen pressure of his hardon stuck in the confines of his pants remained. He was breathing hard, unable to recover so quickly from that one. He was hunched over, hiding the otherwise very evident bulge in his pants from Jack, since he was currently forced to face him. His crotch still throbbed with arousal, keeping him erect minutes afterwards, but it slowly weakened.

"Fuck you," Rhys spat. He didn't like being forced to feel that way. Not through some artificial means of mental manipulation. He could handle the pain. He could handle the sadness. But the aching desire still remained heavy afterwards. He felt violated without even being touched. His dick was only just now reducing itself to a half chub to were he could kneel up a little straighter without further embarrassing himself. He wasn't even sure when he had fallen to his knees. He didn't care who Jack was. He had no right to do that to him. "And get the fuck out of my head."

"Is that how you feel? Well then you're not getting the picture. Remember when I told you that I'm in control? You're still not understanding that very elementary concept. So we're going to reteach that lesson again," Jacks voice was a different timbre than what it normally was. It was calm and collected, with every word enunciated clearly. It was a frightening.

"I'm in control," Jack ground just before another tide of lust flooded Rhys' body. He cried out a sound that only half resembled agony, but was mostly akin to incredible pleasure. He lurched forward onto the bed this time, unable to support the remarkable force of what Jack was forcing him to experience. Heat radiated from everywhere, and his very skin tickled with pleasure. He was completely hard again, but Jack was forcing this out much longer than before. He felt so close to release, relishing every tickling pleasure sensation that brushed across his skin and throughout his body. He was leaking heavily in his pants, so close but so agonizingly far away from completion, and just remaining in that limbo state for as long as Jack deemed necessary.

Ultimately his mind was completely clouded from his previous thoughts and anger, only one thing ruling it: sex. He needed release. He had to have it. That was the only thing that existed then.

Then it was gone.

A strangled cry escaped Rhys' throat, as his breath hitched and came shallowly. He realized he had been grinding his hips into the side of the mattress, trying to force any sort of pressure to his achingly hard erection to get relief. He lay, mentally spent on the mattress, facing Jack's hologram form. A lustful haze still halfway enveloped his mind and his member still throbbed between the mattress and his lower abdomen, with remembered pleasure still teasing in his memory. The irrational part of his mind wanted so badly for Jack to do that again, and just finish it, or to just hump away at the mattress for a few minutes more until he came. So what if Jack was still there. Get himself off any get it over with. This was his fault in the first fucking place.

The other part was disgusted at himself for even humoring the idea, wishing away the stubbornly remaining tent in his pants, and wishing away Jack in this moment of shame for his weakness.

"Actually I'm a little surprised you didn't call out my name that time. Thought for sure you'd actually beg me to fuck you."

He couldn't even muster up the energy to retort. He wanted to cum and he wanted to hide away. He wanted both so badly that neither happened. Instead he just lay there feeling drained.


	3. You Owe Me

After continuing to lie there for an undetermined amount of time, eventually Rhys regained most mental function, having recovered from his exhaustion. Jack was wandering around peering at various things, for once immersing himself in his surroundings rather than in Rhys.

He tried pushing himself off from the dusty mattress, but found his metallic hand still wrapped securely around the rusted metal bar of the bed frame header. Feeling deflated, and not at all in the mood to beg Jack, he debated whether he should just wait it out or make the effort. Either way was a loss and a knock on his self confidence.

"Can I please have my arm back now?" he asked with barely hidden desperation, eyes following Jack's movements as he inspected random things.

"What?" Jack said, standing up straight from being hunched over getting a good look at what looked like a mostly destroyed bucket and the opening that faced away from Rhys. "Oh right, that. You see I don't actually have control of that currently."

The younger man felt his stomach drop.

"What do you mean by that." It wasn't so much a question as an expectation of an answer rather than Jack's current prancing around the point.

Taking steps towards Rhys, Jack rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I mean I think I broke your arm. This whole time you've been stuck to the bed? Not me. Well I mean putting it there in the first place was me, but once you were clamped on there you were clamped on _good_."

His eyes widened slightly, and inkling of panic setting in as his eyes shifted rapidly from his own arm to Jack now just a foot away from his extended metal appendage. "You mean you can't get it to let go?"

"Mmm-Nope!" Jack said with a chipper tone that made Rhys want to strangle him. If only Jack wasn't a hologram. And if only the very same man hadn't broken his own arm with which he desired to inflict strangulation.

Jack leaned over the arm and ran a hand along its length, hovering just above it.

"I could try fixing it," Jack said through his concentration.

Rhys was almost terrified to ask him to try. But what choice did he have? Vaughn was a programmer that dealt with computer data networking, not mechanical augments and the software/hardware that's involved with controlling such equipment. "Sure, why not," he said halfheartedly.

"That's the spirit!" Jack said before reaching his flickering blue hand down to the surface of his arm, and just below the surface. A unexpected shock jolted from the place the mechanical arm met real flesh. Jack jerked back too, as if he got shocked. He frowned.

"It didn't seem to like whatever energy I'm releasing, and won't let me access its internals. I'm afraid I'd fry-or further fry something if I keep trying. I'm clearly too sexy for this piece of cheap-ass equipment.

Rather than be insulted for his arm-which he paid very good money for, for the record-he was instead worried. He sure as hell didn't know how to fix his own arm. Jack couldn't touch it. Vaughn didn't know how to fix it.

Speaking of Vaughn, the very man decided that moment to walk into that room. Rhys hadn't taken the time to realize what this might look like to Vaughn. He was still doubled over the bed with his hand gripping the bedframe.

"Am I interrupting something?" Vaughn asked with trepidation. He peered around the room, as if he might spot Jack somewhere.

"Oh thank god you're here. Jack's broken my arm and he can't even get a good look at it because the arm's reacting to... whatever energies or whatever he's putting out." He was not about to mention _anything_ about what transpired while Vaughn was gone. As far as Vaughn would know, breaking his arm was the extent of what happened.

"And what do you want me to do about that? You know I'm not that kind of tech guy."

Jack took that moment to interrupt whatever Rhys was about to say. "Look I can guide you through this. I have an idea."

When Jack didn't further elaborate Rhys began talking, "What are you going to d-". He was cut off when Jack shifted a bit to his left... and right into Rhys' physical space. Right into his body. He felt nothing physical from Jack's presence currently inside his body, but he felt the most awkward he could ever remember himself feeling.

Vaughn must have caught wind that something was up that he couldn't see. Rhys' face screwed up in an unreadable expression was probably the dead giveaway. "You okay there? What's he doing?"

"He... He's inside me." he managed to grind out. "He's in my body." He tried not moving as much as possible, for fear that _something_ would happen if he so much as moved an inch.

"That's a little TMI, do you need me to leave?" Vaughn's expression told Rhys that he really did take that the wrong way. That's just what he needed right now! A friend who wanted to bail because he interpreted what he said to be filthy, and a hologram of the ex president of Hyperion wiggling around inside the space he took up.

"Oh don't get all flustered kiddo, I'm not doing this to fulfill your sick little fantasies," Jack said sharply. "Now shut up, shut him up, turn towards your arm and get your little friend over here too. We're going to need him."

It was strange, Rhys mused, hearing Jack's voice emulating itself as if it were nearly in his head. At the very least it sounded like he was talking directly into both ears at once, since it was the best the hologram program could emulate. When Jack spoke while directly inside of him, it tickled and made his head itch at the sensation. But the sound also elicited a pleasurable tingle that struck down much further than the tickling sensation. A pleasure that distracted him greatly with each syllable Jack spoke.

Rather than argue, Rhys did as he was told. For the sake of his arm. And his life. If he couldn't get his arm loose there was no chance of him getting anywhere anytime soon, and he'd likely starve. "It's not like that Vaughn. He's just walked into my body space. I think he's going to help fix my arm, but I need you over here too." It was strange relaying messages. He could hear Handsome Jack so clearly it seemed impossible that Vaughn couldn't hear him.

Vaughn nodded and walked to the side of the bed, closest to the arm still unmoving from it's spot.

"Now I'm going to move my arms and fingers and you're going to move your arm and fingers in the _exact_ same way I do. Capeesh?"

Rhys had to shake himself out of the mental coma Jack's voice emulated in his head caused. It was difficult distracting himself from the sensations that it wrapped him up in. He had heard of ASMR, but this was like an extreme version of that.

Rhys nodded confirmation. Jack slowly began raising his arm up, as it phased up through Rhys' were it previously resided. Rhys raised his own arm until it filled the space of Jack's holo-arm. Jack clenched his fist slowly, and Rhys followed suit. Flexing various fingers all resulted in mimicked movement.

"Good now we get to work," Jack said confidently. They moved together until Rhys' hand touched part of his arm, black and raised it ran most of the length of his forearm in a thin teardrop shape. What Rhys hadn't noticed before was that the two lights that normally shined from the side of it were off, no light to be seen. They gripped their fingers along the length of the raised shape. "Grip it tight," Jack commanded before showing a pushing motion that Rhys imitated.

This motion caused the tear drop shape to push forward, but also the rest of the yellow metal casing of the forearm to release backwards slightly, expanding away from each other. Moving their hands again, this time to the recessed black paneling on the inner side, they reached a now exposed lip of the plastic panel and lifted it when Jack gave the verbal cue to lift. Underneath was a circuit board with an LED screen with dials and buttons. The board was small and only took up a small portion of the area. The rest of the area were false muscles made of pistons, joints, and wiring, as well as much more tubing and wiring. Rhys had never looked under his arm before.

The screen was red, with no other indications as to what was wrong. But red meant bad, surely.

"We're not getting a readout, so that most likely means I accidentally exhausted your jumpstart capacitors and your active capacitors when messing with your arm. All that means is that I have to jumpstart them, because they rely on each other to provide juice to one another, but if both are out of juice... they then aren't getting power from anywhere."

He couldn't help it. The sensations that were worming their way through his body were incredibly delightful and desirable. He could feel it causing an effect on him physically as heat and blood pooled low in his abdomen. At the same time it was thoroughly freaking Rhys out and disgusting him that Handsome Jack's voice was having this effect on him.

"How difficult is that going to be?"

"Well I'm hoping that since I seem to emit some sort of energy when I get too close to your arm, that'll mean I can charge them. Bad news is that it's not only the capacitors react to my so very conductive personality," he said snickering at his own joke and self-compliment. "The wiring does too. I'm going to need to get down to the capacitors without touching any wires at all."

Jack's suggestion wouldn't sound so bad if they weren't talking about such a confined space. All of the area they were talking about was just a small section of Rhys' forearm, which was littered in wires going every which way.

"Tell Vaughny boy to try moving some of the wires and mech ligatures aside to make room."

"Vaughn, I need you to reach in and move as many wires as you can to the side, we've got to in into the middle of my arm."

"Sure thing," Vaughn said, doing as instructed. He moved in and started gently prying the wires to the side and holding them steady.

Jack took the opportunity to reach his hand over and extended a single finger. He leaned over the arm, closer to get a better view. Gently and surely he reached in with his index finger. Vaughn's fingers lost grip on a small bundling of wires which fell back into the original place and coming into contact with Jack's finger. Jack yelped and jerked his hand back. Rhys also cried out, the shock radiating to where metal met shoulder.

"Sorry Rhys! My finger slipped."

Vaughn grabbed the wires back up, and Jack resumed progress, glaring at Vaughn. This time he got in without a hitch. He touched the capacitors within.

"Is the light still red?" Jack asked.

"Yeah it is," Rhys said. "Can't you see the light?"

"No my hand is in the way you dingus," Jack retorted.

"Can't you see _through_ your hand?"

"No, of course not. What are you on abou-look nevermind. Later," Jack ended with a rough sigh. "I'm going to see if I can like... force energy into these. I don't even know how my body works doing this in the first place so hopefully that's a thing I can actually do. But who knows. You may be stuck to this bed forever. At least it has a mattress huh? You've even got a pisspot bucket over there."

Rhys made no comment, instead waited as Jack seemed to deeply concentrate. After a moment of effort, Jack renewed his efforts, and started nearly growling with exertion.

"Woah," Vaugh began. "I can feel like static electricity or something on my arm hair."

Just seconds later there was a small clicking sound and a whirr as the light on the board glowed a pale white with black letter readouts.

"Open your hand NOW!" Jack yelled at Rhys, who had been completely awed by the machinery coming back to life. Startled, he opened his hand successfully and pulled back with a jerk. As soon as Jack's hand was no longer in contact with the innards of his arm, however, the arm fell back down with a thud on the mattress, raising a plume of dust into the air.

"AH! I'm free!" Rhys called out with glee and laughter. He tried raising his hand up to inspect it.

Nothing. His hand was dead again.

"Looks like they still weren't able to cycle the energy long enough to maintain long-term charge," Jack observed the LED panel once again a shade of red. He was breathing heavy and his image flickered more than normal. He took a deep breath and righted himself, appearing to hide how much that actually drained him. Strange.

"What does that mean? I won't get to use my arm again until I get it to someone who can properly fix it?"

"I should be able to try again later, but that really took it out of me. I'll need to be able to sustain the energy longer and start off much faster next time. I ramped up this time and I think that's what caused problems. I've really got to hit it hard from the beginning and maintain it long enough for them to cycle the energy on their own."

"Great," Rhys muttered under his breath. At least now he could go take a leak and get some fresh air.

"You owe me by the way," Jack called after Rhys as he wordless clambered over the rubble of the room.

"For what? You didn't even fix my arm!"

"I saved you from starting to death there attached to that bed!"

"You put me there in the first place!" What was wrong with this guy's reasoning? They both knew that Jack was the one causing all these problems in the first place, but here he was acting like the hero!

"That's all just semantics. _You owe me._" The last sentence was bit out with ruthless seriousness. Rhys didn't feel like arguing. He really just need to get outside.


	4. You're Ready to Listen Now?

He was free from that damned dusty shack, out by the creek that ran behind the falling-apart building. He finally had a moment to relax, and release all tension from his body. Bladder no longer uncomfortably full, and Handsome Jack nowhere in sight, he breathed the cooled night air. He shivered.

It was downright cold. With the sun not aimed mercilessly at the desolate craggy ground and little else to keep the heat sticking around, the air felt thin and bitter. His breaths came in puffs before his face, fogging his view slightly each exhale. It was too chilly to stay out long, and he was about ready to pass out after the day's unending wear. The break from... everything was well needed though. As soon as he was back in that shack he'd have to deal with Jack's somewhat unpredictable personality.

He felt the tire beating down on him, and was sure he looked like hell as much as he felt like it. Hopefully a decent rest would refresh him well enough for their trek to civilization.

He was thirsty and hungry as well, as his parched throat and gurgling stomach reminded him every so often. He mused over the water running serenely in front of him, and wondered what its quality was like. While he still had full function in his fingertips, he walked up to and knelt by the water.

He frowned as his right arm just fell lamely to the ground. It felt heavier when he couldn't use it. It also felt terribly inconvenient. If it got in the way he'd have to move it with his still human arm.

Ignoring his growing irritation with his broken arm, he looked back to the water. A lot of eye-augment systems come pre-stocked with everyday generic functionality that most people don't find a use for with full amenities in their lives. He'd never had a reason to test if his particular unit had that sort of function programmed in, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn't feeling desperate to find out.

Using his augmented eye he focused on the water now close enough to touch. Sure enough, a few minor flashes in his vision and a small visual window popped up displaying content based on a scan of the water. No radiation, no harmful chemical composition, traces of common bacteria-though nothing life threatening. Basically your average creek water. It wouldn't be clever to drink as-is, but it could be bathed in and it could be boiled to become safe for consumption.

It was too late to worry about the water for now. They weren't completely dehydrated, but most importantly Rhys was about to fall over with how tired he felt. He wasn't certain that even if he needed the water immediately, he'd be able to muster the energy to do anything about it.

Shoulders slumped, eyes half-lidded, he trudged his way back into their temporary abode. He found Vaughn sitting on the countertop across the main entrance room, Jack seated beside him, eying Vaughn as if offended that he had situated himself on said counter.

"Oh hey, you're back. Have any troubles with Jack out here?" Vaughn asked, somewhat playfully to lighten the otherwise dour mood.

With a crooked smile, Rhys laughed once. "Actually, he's been in here with you the whole time."

Vaughn jumped slightly at that, as if realizing he's been in a ghost's presence for ten minutes without knowing. His eyes darted around himself warily, and landed for a few seconds on Jack without even noticing.

"Boo," Jack said, boredly. Of course, Vaughn didn't react.

"Uh, anyways," Vaughn began. "There are two somewhat functioning bedrooms. One's just got a mattress, and then the one you were in. I figure I'll take the mattress one. I don't like the idea of sleeping near rusted metal. Don't ask. Besides I feel like you're nice and intimate with that bed now."

Vaughn was completely joking, but Rhys almost blushed with embarrassment at how right Vaughn was without even knowing it. Memories of what Handsome Jack caused him to feel... to do... crawled unpleasantly into his thoughts.

"You alright?" Vaughn asked, snapping Rhys back out of his thoughts.

"Hah-Yeah. Sorry. Pre-etty tired, just kind of zoning out. Sounds good buddy."

Vaughn smiled warmly at Rhys, and took off upstairs. Jack rolled his eyes, and whole head along, for over-exaggeration. He stood up from his counter spot and walked up to Rhys, who was stumbling tiredly through the room.

"Let's go pumpkin. Time to catch some Zs," Jack said, walking straight through Rhys who twitched in response. It still felt terribly awkward. He reasoned that's why Jack was now doing it on purpose.

He sighed deeply, before following the blue form of the ex CEO into the unfortunately familiar bedroom. Rhys clambered over the debris while Jack just walked without issue straight through it all, and hopped onto the bed. Rolling onto his back, with shoulders propped up slightly against the metal back railings, he watched Rhys tiredly make his way to the corner of the bed.

Jack didn't move, when Rhys stood there at the bed corner, awkwardly unmoving.

"Yes?" Jack asked.

"Do you mind?" Rhys asked, trying with as much effort as he could expend to keep the irritation from slipping into his voice.

Jack's eyebrows shot up in false surprise, still sitting slightly up against the bed back. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I forgot to tell you. This is my bed."

Rhys glanced from Jack to the bed. The hologram occupied roughly sixty five percent from the middle of the mattress. He could just crawl into the bed, forcing Jack to either deal with it or leave the bed. He figured that if he did just lay down, Jack would bet bored of Rhys not playing along and just leave. He wasn't about to touch the hologram Jack, however. There was a greater chance of pissing Jack off, too, if he just disregarded the "space" he "took up".

No longer giving a shit, Rhys wordlessly moved fully to the side of the bed and tenderly crawled into the small space left at the edge of the bed. Being slightly smaller than Jack with a thinner build made it tolerable, and he still wasn't touching that flickering blue form.

Jack laughed at Rhys' effort, shimmied down onto the mattress fully from his propped up position, and turned away from Rhys, though still occupied the whole middle of the bed.

Rhys frowned. Jack wasn't moving. He gauged his current position and options.

He was currently at the very edge of the bed, and arguably slightly off, as his butt was angled out in his slightly bent sleeping position. The mattress edge had a very hard lip of fabric that ran around the whole border of the bed. Middle of the bed slightly sagged, causing the edge that Rhys occupied to be at an uncomfortable incline that dug into his ribcage and hip.

Even turned on his side, Jack was taking up most of the bed. Moving even a few inches further in would cause Rhys to be very uncomfortably close to Jack's backside. No matter how much he reasoned with himself that it's just a hologram and that touching him doesn't even _feel_ like anything, the person that made up the hologram made it real enough to fuck with his reasoning. Whether or not Jack was real or fake, it was his real personality and memories.

Before he could further evaluate anything else and make any sort of decision, he fell asleep.

_

He awoke chilled, and refused to open his eyes. The ambient temperature was chilly, but there was a slight warmth around his vicinity that he relished and tried to fall back asleep enjoying. He felt groggy any unwilling to wake up just yet. He could feel the aches and pains in his body from the previous escapades and urged them away until a later time when he felt up to facing them. After a few more hours sleep.

After he was unable to fall back asleep and the cool air around him nagged him further into consciousness he groaned lightly and opened his eyes.

When the entirety of his vision was met with various intensities of electric blue and a slight static shimmer, he couldn't help but furrow his brow as his eyes adjusted. He pulled head back, and saw the reason for all the blue. Jack was in front of him. Directly in front of him. Nearly on top of him.

Rhys was fully on one side of the bed, while Jack slept soundlessly on the other, though their bodies bet in the middle. They were facing each other, Jack's chin and neck situated at Rhys' head and face, basically snuggled together. Jack's right arm reached up under his own head, and curved up over Rhys', while his other hand lay through Rhys' chest. Their legs were all tangled through each other.

Rhys' breath hitched. He didn't want to move and wake Jack. He also didn't want to stay there tangled up in Jack's holo-space.

Suddenly Jack's brow's furrowed together and he smacked his lips and mouth open and closed with a small noise from his throat. "Go to hell Zarpedonkey. And take your stupid name with you," he mumbled out in a sleep-haze.

Ignoring the errant sleep-talk, Rhys shifted away from Jack as silently and as motionlessly as he could manage. It clearly wasn't enough as Jack's eyes shot open and met with Rhys'.

Fortunately he didn't react with anger, but almost as badly he was apparently in the mood to tease Rhys.

"You're the worst looking one-night-stand I've ever had! God I must have been so drunk."

Further ignoring him, Rhys pushed off from the bed, and met with the cold morning air. The temperature was drastically different than when he was lying in the bed. He regretted leaving it, though glancing back at Jack still lying there lessened that regret.

"Oh come on buttercup, don't take it so seriously. Aren't you just a daisy in the morning? Look if it makes you feel any better you're not THE most unfortunate looking person I've woken up next to. We're definitely including non-sexual encounters now though."

Rhys groaned aloud at Jack's continued dialogue, and left the bedroom without a word.

Jack hopped up and trailed behind. "Ooo, so grumpy."

They met up with Vaughn out back of the shack, who stood facing the running creek and clutching at his own arms. He was also wrapped up in some sort of holey sheet. Rhys was starting to feel just how cold it was.

"How'd you sleep?" Rhys asked his friend.

"Hard to sleep when you're woken up every half an hour shivering and your fingers feeling numb. Kinda thinking it was dumb to sleep separate. How about you?"

Rhys rubbed at his useless robotic arm. "Eh, about the same," he lied. He had been relatively warm all throughout the night, and hadn't woken once. He knew that somehow Jack's hologram had kept him warm, emitting some small amount of heat while sleeping. He had no doubt it wasn't intentional, but he was grateful nonetheless. He wasn't about to tell either one of them though. "Guess I slept through most of the night though I was so tired."

When silence took over, Jack spoke up. "Is no one going to ask how I slept?"

Rhys tossed him a glance, but looked back away.

"You guys suck," Jack said simply.

"Okay, gameplan time," Rhys started with enthusiasm. Vaughn turned towards him, ready to hear him out. "The water is mostly safe-just not for drinking unless we boil it. So we need to get a fire going, boil us some water to re-hydrate for our trip. If we can, use any non-holey containers from the house to bring some water with us because it's a long walk.

"So we need something that'll start a fire, and something to burn. There are plenty of tins to boil the water in. Besides that it would be great to have something to defend ourselves with and something to eat, but it doesn't look like we'll have either of those."

"Food did you say?" Jack inquired. Rhys ignored him. It was getting easier to do. "Because you know that bucket back in the bedroom? That's got a bunch of those nasty calorie-stuffed-bars in it. No wonder the skags left those."

Rhys stopped. He closed his eyes and tried for a moment to pretend he didn't hear what he just heard.

"Rhys?" Vaughn asked concerned.

"Why didn't you say so before!" he didn't quite yell, but his voice was louder than it ought to be.

"No body asked me! Just like nobody asked how my night's rest was. It was wonderful, by the way, thanks for asking."

Rhys went straight back to ignoring Jack, who stood sternly no longer talking at all. Both Rhys and Vaughn went about collecting the things they needed, including scrap cloths, papers, and cardboard. Rhys went to the bedroom and grabbed the whole bucket that was nearly half full of "Calor-EZ" bars. Vaughn managed to find a lighter with a small amount of fluid still left inside.

They joined back together back by the creek and prepared their haul. Vaughn started the fire and cared for the flame as Rhys got some bigger wood items, including a peg-leg-thankfully not still attached to an owner. The wood held a steady flame once they were able to get it going.

They made a makeshift tripod and somewhat steady platform to place a gallon sized tin can filled halfway with water. A few more unboiled cans of water sat off to the side, waiting their turn.

Jack actually proved helpful when he called out that he found a waterskin in one of the rooms. "Looks like a horses nutsack."

Eventually they got all the water boiled and set aside to cool, and the day was warming drastically. As they retreated inside when the sun started getting intense, Vaughn announced that he was actually going to to wash up in the creek. When he returned, Rhys decided to do the same. He felt no small amount of gross and sweaty, and a good wash-up would feel amazing for morale and mentality. Vaughn came back inside almost downright chipper.

Stripping off all his clothing out by the creek, he stepped into the chilly waters. The contrast of the heat beating down on his bare body was glorious. He stepped further into the waters, to the middle of the creek where the water fell just short of his crotch. He had brought a strip of cloth with him, which he dunked into the slow-moving water. Thinking better, he just plopped down into the water until it was up to his chin. The startling cool caused his breath to hitch, but it felt amazing.

"Enjoying yourself there cupcake?" Jack called out unexpectedly.

Rhys cried out in surprise, turning around in the water, catching Jack at the edge of the creek, arms crossed above his chest. "Jeez, what are you doing?"

Jack didn't respond, instead he paced forward into the water to where Rhys stood.

Noticing the rapidly closing space, Rhys remained crouched in the water but backed up slowly. Jack continued to walk purposefully towards him, with an intimidating stance. Rhys straightened up and backed up out of the water, nudity forgotten. Jack was closing in, and not alerting Rhys as to his intentions. That made Rhys utterly fearful.

Rhys felt the air knock out of his lungs lightly as he backed up against the cliffside wall, now on the other side of the creek to the shack. If Vaughn now looked out of one of the shack's windows he'd see a terrified Rhys nude up against the rocky wall.

Jack stopped just a few inches shy of Rhys, nearly nose-to-nose with him, not considering the slight height difference as Jack looked down on the man in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Rhys repeated, worry tugging at his vocal cords when he spoke.

"You seem to have already forgotten what I taught you," Jack said in a rather monotone voice.

"I don't know what you mean. I haven't said anything to you," Rhys protested. He hadn't shouted at him once since then. He slightly raised his voice, sure, but that was a far cry from anything offensive.

Jack chuckled and shook his head. "You see kitten, that's the problem. You've gone from insulting me directly to basically pretending I'm not even here. Which is just as insulting."

Then Rhys said something he'd probably regret. No, something he was certain he'd regret. But he couldn't stop himself in time. "Oh come on, you're not even the real Jack, you're just a hologram somehow implanted into my brain."

Jack's face changed to a frighteningly neutral look. Somehow it instilled even more fear in Rhys, and something about calm before a storm flitted through his mind before the thought was lost.

"Regardless of what form I'm currently taking, there is no change to the fact of who you are talking to. Need I remind you of who that person in question is: Handsome Jack, Hero of Pandora, Vault Opener, Billionaire, President of Hyperion, I don't think I need to go on. Who I am is not affected by what form I currently am taking."

One last snarky comment rose in his through, but this time Rhys managed to choke down the words "_Ex _President of Hyperion".

"Am I understood?"

"Sure," he meant it so sound sincere, he really did. Jack apparently did not like the word choice, despite any sincerity present or not. Blue holographic hand ripped out with surprising speed from Jack's side, and gripped around Rhys' throat. But as with their very first encounter with each other when attempted strangulation happened, nothing was felt.

Rhys made a noise in his throat, which Jack seemed to interpret as a laugh. He scowled deeply at Rhys, and slightly unclenched his hand.

"Think that's funny?" he asked.

Rhys shook his head and was about to confess it wasn't a laugh, but before he could the hand clasped around his throat again. Shock and fright shot through Rhys as suddenly he felt his throat clench up tight.

What the hell? he thought in a panic.

After a moment of his throat closing shut with pressure, he realized that it wasn't actually Jack's fist around his neck that was causing the sensation. This sensation was the same clenching that happened when Jack made him feel inexorably sad. Except this time his throat was clenching to the point of self-inflicted pain, as his muscles spasmed in protest at the isolated contractions. The reaction was so forceful that it closed off his entire airway. He was choking himself. Jack was _making_ his body choke itself. How had he learned to do that?

Although the thought flickered through his mind, he had much bigger things to worry about. Such as the little stars that started to speckle and shimmer in his darkening vision. Just as he seemed close to passing out, his throat unclenched and Jack tore his hand away from Rhys' throat.

Rhys fell down against the cliff, now on his knees, holding his throat with his good hand while his other still fell uselessly down at his side, unmoving and unlit.

"I am not to be treated like I'm some second-rate virus software that's buzzing around in your head. I am Handsome Jack, and nothing less."

Completely unexpectedly Rhys suddenly became flushed and aroused. Swallowing the surprise, he knew immediately that it was Jack doing his lust torture trick again.

He felt himself going hard, and hunched over with his hands supporting on the ground in front of him, hiding the more obvious physical effect this was having on him. He clenched his eyes shut. He'd ignore it.

Jack laughed, catching on to what Rhys was doing when the crouched man made no other motion as the onslaught continued. "Nah, not getting off that easy."

A forceful wave of heat and arousal coursed through Rhys with such intensity that it left him breathless. A guttural moan left his throat, and he knew better than to try calling out Jack's name while this was going on.

He was so torn between begging Jack to stop, or moaning for Jack to continue.

He was painfully hard at this point, as waves of arousal kept running through his body, leaving every inch tickling with sensation he knew wasn't really there. He still tried hiding his shame, crouched over, palms buried hard into the rocky ground, but it twitched with enthusiasm every second Jack maintained those wonderfully horrible feelings.

"Please stop," he choked out pitifully.

"Oh no. You didn't learn the first time. So we're branding this right into that brain of yours. This isn't ending until you humiliate yourself in front of me." His tone was cold and finite, but Rhys' lust riddled mind and overwhelmed body made it hard to understand him. Wasn't he already completely humiliated?

Then it clicked, and left a twitch of arousal that wasn't a result of Jack's methods. Jack wanted him to get off in front of him. Complete humiliation and abandonment to the man in power.

He wouldn't. He couldn't.

Could he?

He refused for a good couple of minutes, continuing to resist and just ride out the storm, before his compromised mind decided it was the lesser of two evils. Apparently his lusty brain wasn't a good judge of evils, which he'd chastise himself on later.

He looked up at Jack, who towered over him and stared him down. Biting down the last resistance, he slowly raised up off of his hands so he was just kneeling before Jack. No longer hidden from view, his erection stood out hard into the air, still pulsing with every heartbeat and flow of sensations. One last choke down of better judgement, and Rhys dusted off his hand on his thigh and wrapped his hand around his own cock.

Jack's eyes actually widened. "Oh, so you're ready to listen now?"

Rhys looked down in shame one last time, before meeting Jack's blue gaze once more. Biting his lip, he began stroking himself. He tried so hard not to go fast, to go at a leisurely pace to show Jack that, even though he was listening, Rhys was still in control of himself. Jack didn't let up the overflow of arousal and lust, but watched bemused as Rhys fought the urge to just finish fast. Eventually he couldn't handle it anymore, he'd gotten himself somewhere close to finishing but not able to cum. With a groan he gave in that last notch. He started panting as he sped up, jerking himself faster and coming so much closer-finally Jack send one more massive surge of pleasure through Rhys. He came into his fist, still making light, short movements.

"Jaaaa-" he started to moan. He wasn't about to. He didn't. Surely he didn't. He didn't just hear himself about to legitimately groan out Jack's name. He quickly came down from his high, as the sensations from Jack stopped abruptly.

He unclenched his eyes, and looked at Jack. The first thing that caught his attention was the growing bulge in the hologram imitation's pants. Jack's eyes stared at Rhys with a strange expression for a moment before he coughed and walked away from Rhys.

Rhys just watched Jack's backside walk through the water and back through the shack's closed door.

What the hell just happened?


	5. Wrong Move

Feeling somewhat dazed and mentally numb, Rhys recovered slowly. He pulled himself up and back into the water to wash away what was left of his shame. He dunked his head backwards into the water, letting the chilly water wash through his hair and over his face, and chill him further, clearing away any of the remaining intense heat from the sun and prior...events.

Sure that he was as clean as he was going to get without any toiletries, he put his clothing back on. He walked back into the shack, not knowing what to expect when he was inside again.

"Feeling any better?" Vaughn asked Rhys once he stepped foot through the rickety threshold.

"Nice and squeaky clean. A good change," Rhys said, glancing around the room. Jack was leaning up against the far countertop, arms crossed, staring off at nothing in particular. Rhys was immediately grateful that the man didn't seem to want to get into it with him at the moment. After what happened earlier he wasn't sure that words were going to be crossed between them any time soon.

"Should we get a move on? Gather up what we have and get going to meet up with the others?" Vaughn asked, standing up from a pile of random junk.

"Yeah, probably for the best. Wish my arm was working though... I kind of get the feeling it's going to get in the way if we run into trouble," he replied with a wry smile.

They gathered up their supplies ready to go, including the waterskin and the remaining Calor-EZ bars, and kindling for a fire-they'd need it if they couldn't find some form of shelter during the evening. Rhys and Vaughn both agreed they'd wait until next morning though, to make the most of a whole day's walk, giving them more time to find some form of shelter. They doubted they'd be lucky enough to come across another shack like this one. Rhys' augment did let him know that there was a small settlement about a day and a half's walk which they'd go towards. Depending on the type of occupants were in the town they might be able to hire some form of escort or a Catch-A-Ride to get to their destination and meet up with Fiona and Sasha.

For most of the day they both just sat around bored and making random chit-chat between each other, while Jack lounged around idly but not talking. While Rhys was glad Jack wasn't torturing him, he somewhat missed the random dialogue.

When he needed to get up and go outside to relieve himself, he half feared Jack would follow him out and conduct either some form of verbal or physical torture/humiliation. The man didn't even follow him out or make an appearance. Back inside, Jack was still absorbed in his own thoughts.

When it hit evening, Vaughn called out a goodnight to Rhys and started heading towards his room of choice. "Goodnight buddy, we'll head out first thing in the morning," Rhys called after Vaughn's retreating form.

"No no no," started Jack, almost startling Rhys who had nearly forgotten the Ex Hyperion President's presence. "You're not going anywhere with that arm not working."

"Really? You decide _now_ to start talking to me?" Rhys ignored the content of the statement.

"Look, if you go out there without even a semi-functional arm, you're going to get yourself killed."

"What you care about me now?" Rhys retorted with a small amount of snark.

"You're forgetting that I'm in your head, numbskull. If you die, whatever state of being I'm currently in might go kaput," Jack said, ignoring Rhys' attitude. He pushed himself away from the wall he was leaning against and strolled forward towards Rhys.

"We can't just wait here forever, Jack," Rhys said, stating the obvious. If Jack wasn't going to be happy with the current options, he needed to find another option, because waiting around in a shack not terribly far from a den of skags was an even worse idea.

"I'll try fixing your arm again," he stated mater-of-factly.

Jack was talking to Rhys almost as if he were a normal human, and not some lowly underling to make fun of. It was eerie, and slightly weirding Rhys out. Somewhat strangely, he was so used to the berating, torture, and jokes, that the current attitude of Jack seemed... not like Jack at all. At least not that Handsome Jack who he had experienced so far since his appearance. It was actually nice. Aside from the numbskull comment.

"Will you be able to?" Rhys asked, himself almost getting drawn into the normalcy of the conversation.

"I have an idea that might work. I'm not sure if I'll be able to generate the energy sufficient. Sooo I'll need your assistance."

"Do we need Vaughn?" Rhys asked, glancing towards the hallway that led to the upstairs bedroom.

"Nah, we got this," Jack said rather cheerfully, smiling. He waved his arm in a beckoning motion at Rhys, as he turned and walked to their own bedroom. Rhys followed after with some trepidation. Like following a lion into its own den to be eaten.

"Go ahead and sit in the middle of the bed," Handsome Jack instructed when they were inside the room. Jack strolled through the debris to the bedside, as Rhys climbed onto the bed as it squeaked loudly in protest. "I don't know how this will go, truthfully."

Worry curled in the pit of Rhys' stomach, Jack's honesty wasn't helping his nerves. He hadn't eluded to what his plans were, and had no idea what to expect. Jack walked around to the other side of the bed, to Rhys' left and climbed onto it beside Rhys, facing him on his knees while Rhys sat crosslegged. For a moment Rhys wondered why Jack bothered actually getting onto the bed, when he could just effortlessly walk straight through it. Was it theatrics? Or maybe some way of feeling like he was holding on to humanity?

"I also don't know what this will feel like," Jack said. Before the shorter man even had a moment to process the implications of what he was saying, Jack prodded a finger roughly into the metal augment plate at his temple.

A rush of adrenaline pumped through his veins and his...his brain felt hot for a second. Then pain radiated from his temple. Not the electrical shocks he'd felt before when Jack was testing things out the previous day when prodding his exposed augment. This was pure pain.

It only lasted a second before Jack jerked away with a hiss. Rhys was left staring ahead blankly, eyes wide and mouth agape. For a moment his brain wasn't able to process conscious thought.

"Fuck that hurt," Jack said, shaking his hand. He eyed Rhys who still started blankly ahead.

Finally he blinked, thoughts coming back. He turned to look at Jack who regarded him coolly.

"Was that as good for you as it was for me?"

"J-Wha-Th-What just happened?" Rhys stumbled, having difficulty forming words and deciding exactly what he was trying to say.

"I'll be honest with you, I'm trying to take over your whole body," Jack stated like it was no big deal. Like he hadn't just confessed to trying to assume control of Rhys whole body.

"_What_?" Rhys cried out. "I almost just let you do that! _Why_?"

At this point he wasn't sure if he was asking why to himself, for trusting Jack and nearly letting him do that, or if he was demanding an explanation from Jack.

"Because I knew you wouldn't want me doing it if I asked. So I thought what the hell, let's just do it and explain afterwards once your arm was fixed!" Jack was smiling despite the horrified look on the face of the man sitting in front of him.

"I already know you're going to ask why, so I'll just go ahead and explain. I thought that since it's unlikely I'll be able to generate enough energy to fully cycle your arm, that I'd feed into your other augment. I'd take control of your body, force you to do what I need, then feed off of your energy to create a sizable charge and BAM, arm fixed, I'd leave your body."

Rhys thought that over for a minute. "But?"

"But apparently I can't get in fully like I was going to unless you let me in. Willingly," Jack explained blandly.

"So you can make me feel whatever the heck you want without my say, but you can't control me fully without my say?"

"Funny story, actually. The only reason I was able to do that stuff before was because you were totally letting me," Holo-Jack said, eyebrows raised and gauging the other man's response. He looked almost concerned.

...

What? Surely that wasn't right. There was no way that was correct. Rhys was caught in an internal panic-a slew of selfdoubt and mental discomfort. His heartbeat sped up slightly as he warred with himself mentally, evaluating Jack's words.

"Pfft, wow, okay, didn't think you'd actually believe that," Jack interrupted the augmented man's chaotic thoughts, and laughed hysterically. Asshole Jack was back. "I'm not entirely sure, but I think that's a confession you enjoyed what I did to you."

Relief and anger came over him all at once and it was a confusing mixture. He wanted to laugh out loud to release the tension, and punch Jack in his smarmy face at the same time.

"Okay are we doing this?" Jack asked, changing the subject back to the matter at hand.

"I'm not letting you into my head!" Rhys exclaimed rather loudly, before he remembered that Vaughn was probably trying to sleep. He was certain that Vaughn would be able to hear his raised voice, and tried to remember to make an effort to stay relatively quiet.

"Look kiddo, you're going to have to. I'm just going to fix your arm, that's what this is all about. I'm not letting you leave here tomorrow unless your arm is fixed. For your safety, but mostly mine," Jack stated, setting out his expectations on the matter.

Rhys thought the situation over. He was rather certain he knew Jack could keep him at the shack if he really wanted to. He wasn't certain he wanted to discover exactly what methods Jack would impose to keep him there, though. At the same time, the idea of completely letting Jack into his head was... it was downright frightening. He was mostly sure Jack wouldn't pull anything funny. He had no reason to put himself in jeopardy, and clearly was looking out for himself.

Before he thought it over any longer and could make an even worse decision, Rhys nodded his head, closing his eyes tight and looking away from Jack. His head was bowed in a position that almost looked like defeat or resignation.

"_Relax_," Jack urged, when he saw Rhys' shoulders drawn up tight, back hunched with muscles taught.

With a exaggerated sigh, Rhys released his lung full of air and let his spine relax and his shoulders slump, though his eyes still remained shut.

Jack leaned in slowly, hand extended once more. This time Jack touched the metal piece slowly.

"Ghh!" Rhys made the sound through clenched teeth. It was a strange sensation, different all-together from what he'd felt any previous time Jack touched the exposed augment panel. It was like a ripple of soft pressure, centering at his temple.

"Woah, now that's different," Jack commented, apparently feeling something similar, or at least also drastically different.

"Just get it over with!" Rhys ground out through his teeth, eyes squeezed tightly shut, hands knotted in the sheet of the mattress.

A moment later and that feeling encompassed all of Rhys' body, with a feeling of being energized as well. His eyes shot open, and he was staring forward. He glanced to the left to see that Jack was no longer beside him. His stomach dropped. Jack was inside him.

"Uhg, don't feel so happy about this Cupcake, you're making me feel that too," Jack said. It sounded much like it had before when Jack's hologram was occupying his body's space, though it sounded more clear-as if it had lost something that made it sound very like it was just the tiniest notch from being a perfect imitation. Now this voice sounded dead on like the real Handsome Jack's, talking in his head and both of his ears.

He rose his left hand in front of his face, but he didn't remember wanting to do that. The hand twisted and turned of its own accord, clenching and unclenching his fist and moving fingers. He knew it was Jack. This was so strangely different from when he was merely imitating Jack's movements, following the hologram's hand as it moved from out of his own hand's space.

"Neat. This'll be a piece of cake to get your arm working now. I just need to see if I can get some boost of energy from your augment now," Jack said as he opened Rhys' arm back open as he had before.

Jack's voice so intimately close in his ear sent a shiver down his spine, but also a twinge in his lower abdomen. He felt the flicker of arousal before he could stop his train of thought of Jack's voice. He stopped thinking altogether, in a panic. If Jack felt when his stomach dropped then-

"Don't do that while I'm in your body! Really? My voice? You get off on my voice? I don't know whether to be impressed with myself or creeped out," Jack said with a jeer forced onto Rhys' face.

"Just get back to doing what you were doing," Rhys said hotly, his face blushing, and forcing the jeer from off of his own face.

Another twitch of arousal that actually shocked Rhys this time.

"I said stop it!" Jack accused sharply.

"That wasn't me that time!" Rhys hissed defensively, tossing his head to glance at Jack at his side-and remembering he isn't there anymore.

"It sure as hell wasn't me!" Jack protested the accusation that it was from him.

There was silence from Jack, before adrenaline suddenly started surging through Rhys' body. His eyes widened in surprise, and he felt an electric tingle slowly build throughout his body. It began ramping up quickly, become more and more intense. It felt bubbly and static-y all at the same time. His hand forced the wires of his mechanical arm to the side as the sensation still mounted. His heart was hammering in his chest. He was confused and terrified, not knowing what he was feeling meant.

Without warning Jack's right hand shot out from Rhys' body and jammed a finger in the opening Rhys' fingers made between the wires.

Then there was only whiteness. Then Blackness.

_

Rhys stirred slowly, his eyes blinking but his vision was a messy haze. As with the last time, he only saw variations of blue. Frowning but knowing somewhat what to expect, he pulled his head back. This time, however, he had just been staring through Jack's hand, which was positioned partially through his face. He lifted his head and glanced around. Jack's shimmering blue form was positioned behind him, curled up nearly perfectly against him. He radiated that same, subtle warmth that surely kept him from violently shivering through the late hours.

Unsure what to do now, he just laid his head back down for a moment longer. When he did, he caught a glimpse of a light, that confused him at first. It was the lights on his arm! They were on!

Too excited at the discovery, he sat up quickly in the bed, rousing Jack who grumbled his displeasure at the rude awakening.

Rhys moved his robotic arm in front of his face...successfully! He was positively beaming now.

"Yeah yeah, chipper got his arm back. Congratulations. Where's my thanks?" Jack grumbled, still apparently sleep-grumpy.

Rhys stocked, gobsmacked. "Thanks? You're the entire reason my arm was broken in the first place! We've been over this!"

He was sat up in the bed now, his legs hanging over the edge, metallic arm cradled almost lovingly in his other. Protectively, as if Jack would take away the functionality again.

"Oohoo, wrong answer kiddo. See I went out of my way last night to fix that damned thing and I better get at least a half-hearted thanks," Jack said menacingly, a growl evident in his lowered tone.

"There is no way in hell you're getting a thanks!" Rhys said stubbornly. Jack was the last person to deserve a thanks right about then, and he wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"You insolent little-" Jack ground out, lunging for Rhys. Before either of them made sense of what was going on, Rhys turned sideways to push himself off of the bed, but stumbled backwards and hard onto the floor. Jack had lunged too forcefully and, in a moment of forgetting that he was a hologram, reached out to grab Rhys but grabbed air. Unbalanced by the lack of resistance, he fell forward off of the bed, somehow still making himself affected by the form of the bed despite being a hologram.

When they both recovered from their own falls, Jack was closest to the bed, on all fours. Rhys was on his butt, hands planted back behind him, propping himself up just a few inches from Jack. Jack glared at Rhys before getting wicked smile plastered to his face.

"Wrong move," Jack almost purred with self-satisfaction.

Rhys probably should have expected it, but it came as much a surprise as every other time had been. He felt the heat rushing first, and the pleasure coiling in his gut, while pleasure tingled across his skin. Having closed his eyes at the unexpected sensations, but now able to recover somewhat quickly, he looked up at Jack.

Jack's eyes were widened, jaw slacked so his mouth hung slightly open. He shook his head from whatever daze he had been in, and looked back at Rhys with that murderous smile once more in place.

Expecting it this time, his brows drew together but he kept his eyes open, as the sensations washed over him. He felt himself going hard at the pleasure he was encompassed in, and the yearning burning inside of him.

Strangely, Jack's expression... looked much like his own.

Jack let out a moan that just about curled Rhys toes... before he mentally smacked himself at the realization that that sound just managed to turn him on all the more. What the hell was wrong with him, letting Jack's moan do that to him? But that brought his brain back to the present... what was going on with Jack?

The pleasure stopped, and left Rhys panting lightly, hardon constricted uncomfortably in tight pants as he maintained his position.

Jack looked dazed and confused. He brought himself up to his knees, and fell back against the side of the bed. Jack's gaze scoured Rhys' body, prone before him, bulge terribly obvious, though Rhys didn't even bother attempting to hide it. What was the point?

One last effort from Jack brought Rhys spiraling back into the pleasure, but something made Rhys keep a close eye on Jack while it happened. It was difficult to do, while his erection throbbed incessantly, and really he only just wanted to get off. But what he noticed made it easier to distract himself from what he was feeling.

Jack's eyes were closed, one hand clasped to his stomach, the other tight around his upper thigh. Roughly outlined by both hands, his pants revealed a very obvious surprise. Jack was hard. Very hard.

After a moment longer, Jack cried out, "FUCK!" A moment of silence passed, the sensations stopped yet again. Rhys was somewhat getting used to it. This was easier to deal with, short bursts of it without prolonged intense exposure. "Is _that_ what I've been putting you though? Son of a taint! I'm almost sorry for that."

Jack's eyes were open once more, staring wildly at Rhys who still sat across from the hologram. Jack's apparent surprise at the situation took a turn. Eyes half-lidded he caused the lust to return, but slowly, steadily mounting. Rhys started at Jack with confusion, wondering what the hell the man was up to. Then he realized that Jack was just getting carried away with his own elicited sensations. Somehow they were affecting him too, but he was also clearly willing to keep it up for his own enjoyment.

Jack unabashedly moaned again as the pleasure returned as licking kissing along both of their bodies. Rhys couldn't help but stare as Jack relished the pleasure he was putting them both through. While Jack was preoccupied with himself, Rhys couldn't look away from the man he used to admire as a leader.

Finally giving in, Jack's hand that had been clasped to his stomach reached down to its final destination, straight to the hard cock in his pants. He rubbed it through the fabric, as the aching pleasure continued, completely ignoring the man on the floor in front of him. Rhys' own ignored arousal twitched not only at the pleasure the two men shared, but at the show he was getting.

Jack was moaning almost wantonly as he gripped the sides of himself and stroked through the fabric, still increasing the intensity of what they felt till it nearly _was_ torture. Rhys almost didn't dare touch himself, but the ache was growing so intense with every mounted increase Jack forced on them both. Finally he slipped. He reached a hand down, leaving his metal hand to support his body, still in the perfect position for Jack's lewd display. He unbuttoned and unzipped his pants and reached a hand inside, fingers greeted with the wetness of his head. He sighed at the contact.

It wasn't long before the sensation reached almost unbearable levels. At that point Jack's face suddenly changed, brows knit so tight together, and his hand stopped moving. Rhys came at that same moment, watching the man get off in front of him. For a split second he knew he'd hate himself afterwards, for what he had enjoyed.

They both slumped down in their positions, so utterly worn out. It was then that Rhys was so very thankful that Vaughn wouldn't have been able to hear Jack's loud moaning.


End file.
